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Summer Festival Booking Process

Each year, PDX Pop Now! curates a completely free, all-ages festival over the course of three days during the summer in central Portland. As a mission-driven, all-volunteer 501(c)3 organization, transparency is very important to us. Here’s how the process for booking that festival works:

The volunteer board member in charge of booking is the Booking Coordinator who is appointed to the board each year by the board of PDX Pop Now! The Booking Coordinator also manages a committee of volunteers.

January: Applications for the volunteer Booking Committee are solicited and distributed at the annual Volunteer Meeting (location and day TBA each year, see www.pdxpopnow.com for details). The Booking Coordinator assembles the committee from these applications and from prior committee volunteers.

February: The Booking Committee begins bi-monthly meetings to launch the process of booking the festival. Over the course of several months, these volunteers attend an enormous number of local shows in any number of different styles and genres. They then bring their favorites to vote at each meeting. There are many principles, values and goals that drive the booking process. Among them are diverse genre representation, draw equity, and good old fashioned excitement.

June: The official lineup is announced, and the schedule soon follows.

How can my band be considered for the festival?
No press kits are accepted, and submissions are not required for consideration. Eligible bands meet the criteria of having 50% of their members residing in Portland and being active in the local music community.

Throughout this process, the Booking Coordinator solicits the recommendations of many local music experts. In addition, we also consider the general public’s input via requests, which open each year in March.

[Please Note: Multiple requests will not enhance the likelihood that a given group will be booked.]

Thank you for supporting PDX Pop Now! and great local music! See you at the festival!